Not applicable
The present invention relates to combinations of pentafluorobenzenesulfonamides and cisplatin that are capable of inhibiting abnormal cell proliferation.
Cancer is a generic name for a wide range of cellular malignancies characterized by unregulated growth, lack of differentiation, and the ability to invade local tissues and metastasize. These neoplastic malignancies affect, with various degrees of prevalence, every tissue and organ in the body. A multitude of therapeutic agents have been developed over the past few decades for the treatment of various types of cancer. The most commonly used types of anticancer agents include: DNA-alkylating agents (e.g., cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide), antimetabolites (e.g., methotrexate, a folate antagonist, and 5-fluorouracil, a pyrimidine antagonist), microtubule disrupters (e.g., vincristine, vinblastine, paclitaxel), DNA intercalators (e.g., doxorubicin, daunomycin, cisplatin), and hormone therapy (e.g., tamoxifen, flutamide). The ideal antineoplastic drug would kill cancer cells selectively, with a wide therapeutic index relative to its toxicity towards non-malignant cells. It would also retain its efficacy against malignant cells, even after prolonged exposure to the drug. Unfortunately, none of the current chemotherapies possess an ideal profile. Most possess very narrow therapeutic indexes and, in practically every instance, cancerous cells exposed to slightly sublethal concentrations of a chemotherapeutic agent will develop resistance to such an agent, and quite often cross-resistance to several other antineoplastic agents.
The development of new anticancer agents has given rise to new treatment regimens and new combinations that are proving more effective in combating this disease.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide compositions which directly or indirectly are toxic to actively dividing cells and are useful in the treatment of cancer.
A further object of the present invention is to provide methods for killing actively proliferating cells, such as cancerous, bacterial, or epithelial cells, and treating all types of cancers, and generally proliferative conditions. A further object is to provide methods for treating other medical conditions characterized by the presence of rapidly proliferating cells, such as psoriasis and other skin disorders.
Additional objects, features and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims.
In one aspect, the present invention provides compositions useful for the treatment of cancer and other diseases associated with abnormal cell proliferation. The compositions comprise cisplatin (or a related platinum coordination complex, e.g., carboplatin) and a compound having the formula: 
In the formula above, the letter R represents a hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted (C1-C10)alkyl, or substituted or unsubstituted (C3-C6)alkenyl. The symbol Ar represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group.
In another aspect, the present invention provides methods for the treatment of cancer and other proliferative disorders using the compositions provided above.